Vests or harnesses exist that implement various strategies for load carrying and torque resistance. Shortcomings of existing vests include, for example, tightening around regions of the body in an indiscriminate manner, thereby restricting respiration, circulation, transpiration, and movement. Specifically, they may impinge upon body systems and areas such as the spinal column, the abdomen, the shoulder blades, and certain nerve branches and plexuses.
Existing vests fall into two major categories: front-mount vests, where the load attachment point is to the front, or ventral side of the sagittal plane of the human body; and back-mount vests, where the load attachment point is to the rear, or dorsal side of the sagittal plane. These vests are generally built to transfer the vertical component of the load into the wearer's body, and to resist the torque of suspending a weight anterior to the vest.
Wearers of conventional vests often find pressure is directed to areas where it causes discomfort. Chest straps may restrict natural respiration, and additionally cause the vest to move during respiration, affecting the pitch of the load-carrying attachment point, and interfering with precise operation of the supported equipment. To maintain an appropriate pitch of the load, conventional vests generally cause the wearer to use a modified gait that is contrary to natural human locomotion, and results in diminution of equilibrium and increased muscular effort throughout the entire lower extremity and across the ventral and dorsal abdominal muscles. The loaded vest may also interfere with the natural movement of the entire pectoral girdle, particularly the scapulae, thus restricting the movement of the arms. By encompassing large areas of the wearer's body, the front-mount vest, and to some extent the back-mount vest, reduce transpiration causing additional discomfort.
Accordingly, there is a need for a vest that overcomes or reduces some or all of the shortcomings of existing vests.